Area sheriffs: Too soon to weigh in on gun control

Saturday

Jan 26, 2013 at 3:15 AM

By Andrea Bulfinchabulfinch@fosters.com

DOVER — While a number of elected sheriffs across the country have spoken out against enforcing any new laws that may come into play regarding gun control, it’s still a bit too early to weigh in locally with a definitive answer.

In Strafford County, Sheriff David DuBois said he’s aware of the issue being discussed and his office plans to monitor the subject as it would with any legal issue attracting national attention.

In an email to Foster’s he wrote, “We enjoy close and positive relationships with our federal partners in law enforcement and we work closely with the other nine county sheriffs on matters that impact New Hampshire law enforcement. As with all of our work, law is the basis of all actions we take now and this will remain true in the future.”

He also said during a phone call that he and the Strafford County Sheriff’s Office would work with legislators in the state and the governor’s office should the issue be brought to the state level.

“At the end of the day, law enforcement’s role is to follow the law. That’s the basis of everything we do and we would continue that into the future,” he said.

A national dialogue is taking place surrounding comments made by top law enforcement officers in counties throughout the United States. According to the website for The New American, sheriffs from “Kentucky, Oregon, Texas, California, Missouri, Idaho, Alabama, Colorado, South Carolina, Georgia, Minnesota, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Ohio, New York, Utah, Oklahoma, and other states have all spoken out already — many of them in unison.”

“It seems that virtually every single day, more sheriffs are adding their voices to the expanding list of prominent lawmen who have vowed to ensure that the U.S. Constitution is respected in their jurisdictions,” it continues.

And though a sheriff’s position is to uphold the law, that same site also explains that sheriff’s “work for the citizens and taxpayers in their jurisdictions, not the federal government. Even the Supreme Court ruled that sheriffs cannot be compelled to follow federal dictates or mandates in a landmark case on gun control.”

In Linn County, Ore., Sheriff Tim Mueller has apparently drafted a letter to Vice President Joe Biden. A photograph of Mueller holding his letter for all to read has gone viral on the Internet. In that letter, Mueller states that “his department will not enforce any federal regulation requiring the sheriff’s office to disarm law abiding citizens.”

According to Statesmanjournal.com, Mueller writes in his letter, “Any federal regulation enacted by Congress or by executive order of the President offending the constitutional rights of my citizens shall not be enforced by me or by my deputies, nor will I permit the enforcement of any unconstitutional regulations or orders by federal officers within the borders of Linn County Oregon.”

Rockingham County Sheriff Michael Downing said it’s premature to be making any such declarations as the issue remains at the federal level. Until state legislation is passed, it’s not up to a sheriff’s office to enforce any executive orders the president implements, he said. It would be up to federal agencies to do so.

But while some feel it may be too soon to decide how any orders would affect things on a local level, Jackson County, Ky., sheriff Denny Peyman “said he already knows how the proposals will affect the way he does his job: not one whit,” according to nbcnews.com. He stated very directly that his office would not enforce any new orders on gun control.

“Let’s say I know there’s a thousand assault weapons in my county ... I’m not going to be a witch hunter and go door-to-door checking,” he said in the article.

Downing said there is a big difference between executive orders and law and until anything goes through the state legislature there’s no way to know what may or may not come down for any such orders.

“It’s going to be a discussion that’s going to take place probably both in Washington and across the country in the statehouses,” he said.